It's Crochet, Knit & Natter 9: So Many Projects, So Little Time. (Oh well - I almost made it rhyme!)

[Fairislefandango]

A thread for woolly crafters of all types and levels.
Previous thread here

That looks fun,@StillNiceCardigan ! I had been thinking of going to Yarndale again this year (last year was my first time), especially now that I'm a spinner aa well as a knitter and crocheter. But I (correctly) judged that I would be too knackered to bother, due to the new job. Next year maybe!

I'm settling into a bit more of a routine after the Ofsted baptism of fire, followed by a whole week of painkillers and night waking due to my tooth. Whole week's lessons are planned and I'm going to do some more alpaca carding (pile of rolags in photo) and a bit more knitting. I'm nearly at the end of my 14-inch sleeve and about to go into the wide scarfy bit. Loving my Zing interchangeable circular needles!

The weird thing about the carding is that the fleece is from different alpacas and at least one llama, so as well as being different colours, they have very different textures, and one of them has a staple length about 3 times the length of all the others! And it's clear that some of it has just been chopped off, so there are quite short bits here and there.

I'm sure that won't make for a very consistent or sensible yarn, but I'm just enjoying the fact that I'll have made it from scratch, right from the dirty, dusty fleece. Plus it was free, of course!

Just in case anyone is interested - here is a picture of what the pile of tangled, mixed-up fleece looks like since I washed it, plus a picture of what it looks like when I've carded some into a rolag ready to spin from. The hand carder isn't a proper one - it's a dog brush! They are a lot cheaper but seem to work just as well, as long as you get the curved ones!

I bought some more of the missing yarn yesterday but the colour is no longer in production, they obviously stopped it after releasing the CAL 🙄 So I have another pink which is slightly brighter. It doesn’t look awful in the mix but I know it’s different. The original pink hasn’t turned up just yet.

I’m making a toddler friendly Christmas tree. I wanted to make it a bit bigger so I’ve decided to double strand the yarn, which has obviously got knotted. DH is untangling it and asking if it easier to just split it into two balls before working and I’m trying to convince him that it would still know that way.

It not exactly a relaxing day out @Fairislefandango ! Love the hand carder I’m looking forward to see how your yarn turns out.

I’m sure the pink yarn with now turn up @InTheNightWeWillWish its just waiting to reveal itself.

How annoying @InTheNightWeWillWish

Very interesting @Fairislefandango . I love the natural colours. Are you going to dye it?

@spin that look great!

Fun! @StillNiceCardigan

Sorry I am not around much. I'm struggling to keep up with everything. And I've now sprained my ankle again.

Oh no @MerylSqueak hope the ankle feels better soon.

I'm on my last week of travelling to London for three days and am looking forward to going down to one day from next week. The trains were messed up this morning just to remind me how horrible commuting can be!

That looks brilliant @StillNiceCardigan! thanks for the pics! I love a virtual browse

Those rolags look perfect @Fairislefandango I’m so tempted to follow your example, the ’proper’ brushes are so expensive. Ouch, your poor tooth, it’s the worst kind of annoying pain to be woken by!

oh no @MerylSqueak! I hope it heals soon!

Drum roll please! I got rid of the ridge! Woo hoo! Well, technically the ridge is on the inside now, but I'm okay with that. Very pleased and relieved. And yes, the problem was that I was doing my slip stitch wrong

I can't face doing the other handle just yet, so I'm pressing on with the mug cosy, having worked out what I was doing wrong with that (turns out I couldn't remember how to half treble either). It's all a bit messy, but I'm going to make a second one straight afterwards as they're actually very useful now that lots of coffee places don't give out cardboard sleeves.

Sorry about your ankle, @MerylSqueak - hope it heals soon.

Yay to the demise of the ridge, @QuantumWeatherButterfly - well done!

@MerylSqueak sorry to hear about your ankle. Hope you're not in too much pain, but a sprain can be as painful as a break according to the paramedic who dealt with me when I sprained mine walking down a steep flight of stairs in high heels holding a gin and tonic in each hand . Many, many years ago, I should add!

I'm not intending to dye the alpaca yarn I make - it is going to be rustically mixed brown . I have no idea what I'll make with it, but apparently dh's colleagues are (still) waiting with baited breath to see what I make out of the gifted fluff they donated to me!

I've started and quickly abandoned several new projects. I've decided it's perfect weather to resume blanket crochet

Your crochet companIon doesn’t look impressed @tizwozliz !

Looking gorgeous, @tizwozliz !

I finished the mug cosy last night. It's usable but untidy around the first row. I'm trying to decide whether to go straight back and do another one to see if I can make the beginning neater, or to do something different- either the other bag handle, or a cowl scarf that has a couple of new skills for me to try (back loop only and working two yarns at the same time).

I'd post a pic of the mug cosy but I can't currently get it to work from the app.

OK, I watched the accompanying video for the cowl and decided I was feeling brave enough. I'm really glad I did because I am enjoying it so much! It's nice to do something that doesn't feel fiddly, and I am very proud of how neat I kept the first row into the chain. Plus it is growing quickly, which is always nice!

See pics of progress so far, what it is meant to look like when finished, and very untidy mug cosy for comparison!

The cowl looks lovely@QuantumWeatherButterfly very cosy!

I made three pumpkins in the end. I don’t have a particular project on the go at the moment other than granny squares and my temperature blanket. I do have some very nice sock wool but I’d need to concentrate if I made socks as I haven’t knitted any for awhile. I don’t have a lot of spare concentration at the moment as there’s a lot going on. Our house goes on the market next week and I’ve no idea what sort of interest we’ll get.

Ooh - beautiful pumpkins, cowl and cosy blanket (and gorgeous dog!).
I'm planning on a bit more carding and spinning this weekend. Yesterday was the second meeting of knitting and crochet club - I had 38 members . They could barely fit in the room! Most of them are complete beginners and want to crochet. Just getting them all to make a slipknot and chain was quite tricky! We are aiming for a granny square!

Can you share a link to the cowl pattern @QuantumWeatherButterfly ?

@Fairislefandango - the pumpkins above are actually deceptively easy if you wanted a real project for your group - at least they look like the ones I've made which are just a crochet square sewn into a tube then with the ends cinched in.

That would be great, @tizwozliz ! Plus Halloween is my birthday so I've always quite liked that kind of thing

I forgot to ask - could you share the pattern?

I can't, I'm afraid, @tizwozliz - it's in a book, not online.

I think this is the pattern I followed

bellacococrochet.com/pumpkin-pattern-2/

You can use a cinammon stick to avoid having to crochet the stem which is a bit more fiddly.

Thanks @tizwozliz ! I think it will be a bit late to get them to do it in time for Halloween, but if I do more on the basics next Friday (the day we break up), I could point them to the website and the more confident beginners could have a go over half term. I'm certainly going to try!

That’s a nice cowl @QuantumWeatherButterfly and those pumpkins are very cute @StillNiceCardigan.

@Fairislefandango that’s a great turn out for knit and crochet club. I was on the train the other day heading to London and these three women were talking about crochet being taught in school but they decided not to learn (as it was too girly was the implication 🙄). Obviously, knowing I’d be going on the train and I’d reach the limit of what work I could do, I’d taken some yarn and a hook with me and pulled it out after I’d reached the end point with my work!

I’ve abandoned the toddler friendly Christmas trees, the yarn isn’t as sturdy as I’d have like. However, the yarn is lovely and I had this ridiculously stupid really cute idea of making DD something for each of her birthdays. So I’m using the yarn for her “1” toy which is going to be a flat cuddle bunny. The light in the living room doesn’t capture colours very well so it’s actually an aqua blue but the head and ears are going to be a silver colour. I need to do my mum’s blanket but I’ve got sewing block with all the ends and the squares to sew together.

That's a lovely idea, not silly at all, @InTheNightWeWillWish !

I'm still really liking the idea of those pumpkins, whether my students make them or not! I'm always a bit envious and admiring of people who seasonally decorate their houses, even though I know it's really a bit of an Instagram-generated stick to beat ourselves with! I don't want to go overboard, and don't really have time, but...